Football Falls in Overtime at Plymouth State
Plymouth, NH- The Framingham State football team was defeated in overtime by Plymouth State on Saturday afternoon by a score of 16-13. With the win the Panthers move to 6-1 and 4-1 in MASCAC play. The Rams suffer their first loss of the season and are now 5-1 and 3-1 in league play.
Jeremy Martin hit the game-winning 22-yard field goal on the Panthers first possession in overtime after the hosts blocked Ryan Clifford's (Brockton, Mass.) 40-yard field goal attempt on the Rams opening drive.
The Rams received a strong performance from senior quarterback Zakery Walker (Ayer, Mass.) who was 34-of-47 for 258 yards and a touchdown. The Rams registered 366 yards of total offense but were held to 108 yards on the ground after averaging over 250 yards per game on the ground coming into the contest.
The Panthers struck for the only points of the first half late in the 1st quarter when Chris Kelly caught a 25 yard touchdown pass from Zack Edwards on the first play of the Panthers drive following a turnover on the previous Rams possession.
After trading possessions to start the second half Walker orchestrated a 7 play, 72 yard drive capped off by a 1 yard TD pass to Khaneil Bruce (Cambridge, Mass.) and Clifford converted the PAT to take a 7-6 lead.
The Panthers answered on their next drive as Edwards led the hosts down the field in seven plays ending with a Chris Kelly TD to retake the lead 13-7.
The Rams were able to tie the game at 13 after trading possessions, Walker lead the Rams down the field with a 15 play, 60 yard drive that was capped off with a Rufus Rushins (Lynn, Mass.) touchdown run. The Rams PAT attempt was blocked to keep the game tied.
Plymouth got the ball back with just over five minutes to play and was driving down the field but Kenneth Bartolo (Malden, Mass.) intercepted Edwards near midfield to end the threat.
Michael Calicchio (Chelmsford, Mass.) registered 14 catches for 116 yards while Stephen Beahn (Spencer, Mass.) and Napoleon Miller (Boston, Mass.) both had six catches for 59 yards and 33 yards, respectively. Miller also added 36 yards on the ground.
Nathan Flemming (Windham, Conn.) led the Rams with 12 tackles, 2.5 for a loss while Svenn Jacobson (Cumberland, Maine) added seven stops for the Rams.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, September 21st when they host Westfield State as part of homecoming weekend.